The Excelerators

The beginnings of The Excelerators came as the result of Wes Searcy's work in a country rock band in 1993. He had booked quite a bit of work for the group that the members were not going to honor. He enlisted the help of childhood friend (and drummer) Hank Harms. They were able to get guitarist Bob Moggio to help out. Searcy, Harms and Moggio (Mojo) did this work as a 3-piece band. Searcy came up with the name for the band from watching Mojo work the myriads of stomp boxes and wah-wah pedals he used.

Looking for a fuller sound, Searcy asked keyboardist, Terry Schmitt, if he was interested in helping out. Schmitt was eager, so this version of The Excelerators worked together from the summer of 1994 until New Years Eve. Mojo was working with the band Pontiac Jack and opted to stay with them. Though this was the 1st incarnation of The Excelerators, they still needed a permanent guitarist who could sing.

At the end of 1994, Searcy was taking in some free-lance work and met keyboardist/steel guitarist Charles "Rocky" Pirrello. Pirrello and Searcy had a mutual friend in guitarist, Dennis Parazak, who finished up a year earlier with premier St. Louis cover band, Mixxed Company. At the New Year, Pirrello wrote Searcy a letter suggesting they form a group together with Parazak. Jazzed at the prospects, Searcy informed Harms and Schmitt that a new version of The Excelerators was coming and "Fasten your seat belts. This should be a lot of fun." Searcy, Harms, Schmitt, Pirrello, and Parazak formed the 2nd incarnation of The Excelerators.

The Excelerators in 1995 (From left to Right) Parazak, Searcy, Schmitt, Pirrello, Harms

With 4-part harmony and 2 keyboards, this group had a very full sound. Their music was complex and versatile as Pirrello would pull out the steel guitar on tunes like "Man On The Moon" by REM. They ranged in musical style from groups like Green Day to James Brown and just about anything in between. The only thing these guys lacked was rehearsal time. This version of The Excelerators relied on the raw talent of its players to carry it farther than groups with much more time invested in rehearsal and made it through December of 1995 together.

Parazak got married, finished his doctorate and got a job with Hewlett-Packard in Oregon. Pirrello finished his Law Degree and welcomed the arrival of his fourth child, Anastasia Eileen. Harms needed more time to devote to his family and painting business. So Schmitt and Searcy carried out the band work that was booked with the help of Steve Noonan on drums. They were able to get Mojo to pitch in on guitar again. This version of The Excelerators finished out the pending schedule that went into the summer of 1996. Noonan was not interested in working in an organized band and Mojo was still with Pontiac Jack, so these parts needed to be filled with permanent personnel.

In July of 1996, Searcy got up the nerve to ask full-time drummer, Dave Sweet, if he'd be interested in coming on board. Searcy and Sweet had played together on some free-lance work over the previous couple of years. In July, guitarist and vocalist, Brian Beatty auditioned. Beatty jumped right in and covered bass on a couple of tunes, allowing Searcy to play trombone on a couple of songs again. This formed the 3rd incarnation of the band. This version of The Excelerators re-established the versatility of song selection in their mix. They lasted for over 3 years together.

The Excelerators from 1996 to 1999 Sweet, Beatty, Searcy, Schmitt

Searcy, Beatty, Schmitt and Sweet recorded a demo of 17 songs in November of 1997 with the help of Scott Debo over at Merlin Music. They also built quite a band following and really helped to define the genre' of the band's association with "Danceable Classic Rock & Roll."

In June of 1999, keyboardist, Terry Schmitt moved to Denver Colorado for his daytime job as a computer network professional. The band enlisted the help of full-time musician, Jimmy Cook on keys and vocals. Cook had an extensive background in the St. Louis music scene. He worked from the early 70's with groups like "London Calling" and "Sticky Fingers." He was able to quickly meld into the band's operation.

In March of 2000, guitarist, Brian Beatty, left the band to spend more time with his new family in Troy, Missouri. Doug Carson asked if he could join the group. Carson, a full-time musician, toured extensively and sought to become part of a local band in St. Louis. This comprised the 4th incarnation on the band.

The Excelerators in 1999 Cook, Sweet, Searcy, Carson

In May of 2000, Dave Sweet moved on to join Fanfare, a full-time St. Louis based band. Steve Noonan was interested in playing and re-joined the band.

The Excelerators from 2000 to 2001 Carson, Noonan, Searcy, Cook

In July of 2000, Searcy announced that the band will cut back on its performance schedule, after the New Year of 2001. In December, Carson and Cook indicated, that even though they all were full-time players, they would like to try out the reduced schedule and try to fill in work with other bands to augment their schedules. Covering groups like Steely Dan and Allan Parsons, it was apparent that the fun of association and the complexity of the music kept this version of the band together for longer than originally planned. All full-time players were able to move on to other work by April of 2001.

In October of 2001, after numerous auditions through the previous summer, Joe Miller came in a gave a credible audition on guitar and brought in a list of over 200 songs for lead vocals. Miller asked friend (and keyboardist) Stan Gill to give the band a try. Gill came in and simply took command of keyboards and vocals. He also brought in an extensive list of lead vocal songs and showed tremendous ability on flute via Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath." As versatile as they come, Gill will whip out a sax instead of simply reaching for a patch on keys, adding authenticity to The Excelerators' sound. This comprised the 5th incarnation of the band.

The Excelerators in 2001 Noonan, Gill, Searcy, Miller

In April of 2002, Noonan fell in love and left the band. This led to a "Spinal Tap-esc" chain of drummer changes that brought in Bob Baker in April, Jake Burton in June, Steve Noonan (un-officially for 2 days in late September), Dan Wirick in October, then Jake Burton again in February '03. Also, in February, Joe Miller announced that he will be leaving at the end of April.

The Excelerators 2003 Pereira, Searcy, Gill, Franzel

The band was in need of a new drummer and a guitarist. The natural choice was to ask guitarist Mike Franzel and drummer Jorge Pereira if they would want to come aboard. Both Pereira and Franzel free-lanced a couple of jobs with the band so Searcy knew of their capabilities. Also, Franzel, Pereira and Gill all worked for over 15 years together in another premier St. Louis cover band, "Jester." At this point, the hope for longevity in players with similar musical desires was sought and there was considerable history among 3 of the players of this, the 6th incarnation of The Excelerators.

In January of 2004, Mona Taylor sat in on a job and flat grabbed the attention of the house and simply would not let them go. She worked with the band in a 5-piece format until October of 2004.

The Excelerators 2005 Searcy, Gill, Franzel, Scanio & Pereira

In December of 2004, Cindy Scanio auditioned for the female vocalist position. She won the part and eventually came onboard with the band in June of 2005.

In June of 2005, Shawn Barker sat in with the band. A winner of numerous, nationally sanctioned Elvis Presley tribute competitions, the band and Shawn were so mutually impressed with each other that work started immediately on a show devoted entirely to the King of Rock & Roll. "One Night With ELVIS - LIVE" debuted in November of 2005. The band performed five of these shows with Shawn until he moved on to performing Johnny Cash shows with Brown Productions of Wisconsin.

The Excelerators 2005 Gill, Barker, Searcy, Pereira, Franzel

The Johnny Cash work became so prevalent that Shawn quit doing Elvis in May of 2006. The band is contemplating working with another ETA, but planning is in the preliminary stages and quality is the pre-eminent objective before moving forward.

The band currently touts a 4 and 5-piece version of the band that continue to display a complexity in the music to sate the "Musical Jones" of all involved with the group, including 4 of whom played and studied music at the college level. From the intricate leads of Franzel's guitar, to the soulful playing of Gill's keyboard work, to the versatility of the all the lead vocalists or everyone's harmonic capability, The Excelerators continue to rock houses with music that is both rare in selection and executed with the professionalism that each of these music veterans bring from their local and national experience.

Through all of the changes, everyone who has been involved with The Excelerators, remain good friends and still come out to sit-in and help out the current version of the band.